Conventionally, there is known a total heat exchanging element 10, such as that shown in FIG. 1, that includes a first laminar air-flow path 4, a second laminar air-flow path 5, a partitioning component 1, and a spacing component 2. The second laminar air-flow path 5 is layered on to the first laminar air-flow path 4 and it is perpendicular to the first laminar air-flow path 4. The partitioning component 1 partitions between the first air-flow path 4 and the second air-flow path 5. The spacing component 2 forms the first air-flow path 4 and the second air-flow path 5 and maintains a space between a lower one of the partitioning component 1 and an upper one of the partitioning component 1. A adhesive agent 3 adheres the partitioning component 1 to the spacing component 2. A first atmosphere 6 flows through the first laminar air-flow path 4 and a second atmosphere 7 flows through the second air-flow path 5. The total heat exchanging element 10 causes exchange of latent heat and sensible heat between the first atmosphere 6 and the second atmosphere 7, with the partitioning component 1 as a medium.
The partitioning component 1 acts as the medium for exchanging the latent heat and the sensible heat between the first atmosphere 6 and the second atmosphere 7. Therefore, heat transfer performance and moisture transmission performance of the partitioning component 1 significantly affect the exchange rates of the sensible heat and the latent heat. In view of costs, paper made from cellulose fiber (pulp) is generally used as a material for the spacing component 2.
To make the partitioning component 1 moisture permeable, a moisture-absorbing agent (moisture transmission agent) is generally added to the partitioning component 1. As the moisture-absorbing agent, alkali metal salts and alkali earth metal salts that are water-soluble moisture-absorbing agents are used. The alkali metal salts and alkali earth metal salts are represented by lithium chloride, calcium chloride, and the like. As non-water-soluble moisture-absorbing agents, powdered moisture-absorbing agents, such as silica gel, and strong acidic or strong basic ion-exchange resin, are used (for example, refer to Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3).
In the total heat exchanging element 10, a reduction in an amount of gas, such as CO2, transmitted between the first atmosphere 6 and the second atmosphere 7 is particularly required. Therefore, in addition to the above-described moisture transmission (moisture-absorbing) performance, the partitioning component 1 is required to have higher gas-shielding property.
Various partitioning component materials having enhanced gas-shielding property have been proposed. For example, there have been proposed a material that is finely-ground pulp fiber (for example, refer to Patent Document 4), a material to which microfibrillared cellulose is added as filler that is made into paper (for example, refer to Patent Document 5), and a material of which pores are sealed by applying a water-soluble resin, such as polyvinyl alcohol, to a partitioning component (paper) surface (for example, refer to Patent Document 6).
Sometimes adhesion of the partitioning component 1 and the spacing component 2 on an edge of the total heat exchanging element 10 can be weak due to application of insufficient adhesive agent. If this happens, a gap is produced between both the sheets through which air, and CO2 that mixes with air of other flow paths, leaks. It is required, therefore, to take measures so that such gaps are not produced. Moreover, to ensure fire safety, a flame-retardant agent or the like is sometimes added to the partitioning component 1 and the spacing component 2.
A water-solvent-type adhesive agent is mostly used as the adhesive agent used to adhere the partitioning component 1 and the spacing component 2, for following reasons. When an organic-solvent-type adhesive agent is used, diffusion of an organic solvent itself remaining in the adhesive agent, odor accompanying the diffusion and the like occurs. Therefore, a total heat exchanging element made of an organic-solvent-type adhesive agent is not suitable for use in an air-conditioner. In addition, complicated and expensive auxiliary machinery, such as a device for recovering the organic solvent, is required in a production facility of the total heat exchanging element 10, leading to increased costs.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2829356    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-153398    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-251133    Patent Document 4: International Publication No. 2002/099193 Pamphlet    Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent No. 3791726    Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-027489